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Installation 05
Installation 05, also known as 'Delta Halo' was one of the six surviving Halo Rings that the Forerunners originally built as weapons to exterminate all life in the galaxy. In terms of physical appearance, Installation 05 was no different than any of its siblings, though it seemed to have a temperate and tropical appearance to it. Unlike its siblings though, Delta Halo was touched by the effects of the Flood in the 26th Century, though after their apparent extermination, the ring's systems automatically began to repair and reverse the damage caused by the parasite. Like other parts of the Array, the ring itself was disabled in 2552 when Master Chief Petty Officer John 117 shut down the activation relay on Installation 00, The Ark. Today, Delta Halo is an inhabited space colony that has many towns and cities built on it. It is also still used as a research station, which was its original intention with its Forerunner masters. The capital of Installation 05 is Niven. Like all of the Halo rings had a ten thousand kilometer diameter and a 26 kilometer thickness. It's rotation was such that it would provide a stable 1G gravitational pull via centrifugal motion, but this meant that the day was shorter than an Earth day. Description & History Initially created over 100,000 years ago, Installation 05 was originally one of 12 identical Installations to be used in the Halo Array during the Forerunner Flood War. The rings themselves were part of a last resort method used by the Master Builder at the time who wished to end the conflict of the war in an extreme way. During the process, the twelve rings were whittled down to seven, which were then activated when it was clear no other choice could be made. For 100,000 years, Delta Halo would remain silent until 2552 when Covenant forces found the location of the ring where the Prophet Hierarch of the time, Regret, chose to activate the ring. Thankfully, the ring's firing sequence was disrupted, throwing the ring into a Standby mode where it could be activated from Installation 00. This too was averted, causing Delta Halo to become nothing more than a ring in space. Following the ending of the war, UNSC scientists took time to analyze the rings themselves and tried to learn more about Forerunner research and knowledge of the Flood. The process would take years thanks to the complicated nature of Forerunner math and science which used methods that were not known to Human scientists. By the 2700s, interest sparked within the UNSC to consider using the deactivated rings as giant space colonies. The environments were already habitable for Human beings and the rings themselves had automated systems to protect the colonists from astronomical threats, and the presence of the gas giant, Substance, would provide the colonists with a steady source of hydrogen and helium for gas. In 2714, the first city on the planet, Niven, was constructed with an initial population of 500 colonists. In the decades that followed, more colonists followed. By 2900, Over fifty settlements all over Installation 05 were founded with the ring's total population reaching around a million colonists. While Forerunner modes of transportation were used, colonists liked to use modes such as planes to explore the beauty of the installation. One of the most beautiful places on the Installation was the Big Jungle, a continent-spanning rainforest that contained hundreds of species of animals that came from worlds that Humans had never seen before. By the 31st Century, Humans seemed to explore a good portion of the ring's structure, documenting the tunnels that ran underneath the structure of the crust. This allowed a glimpse into the true makeup of the ring. The composition of the metal that the ring was constructed of was not known despite the resources put into researching it. Though discoveries about power transfer made its way into Human society. Forerunner power conduits used methods of electronics that benefited Humanity by improving power storage, transfer, and even generation. Typically, any major technological discoveries regarding the Halos made its way to the 50 settlements before finding their way off the ring. The cities are therefore on the cutting edge of reverse-engineering technology. In the late 32nd Century, criminals that managed to escape the justice system on Delta Halo made their way to a place that was known as the Library. Every ring had a Library, and its labrynths formed a place where these people could form their own society. In an attempt to keep others out, a forcefield was erected to block all flight around the Library, though it could be crossed on foot. In 3239, The crew of the Emerald Fox, a Mobian freighter, managed to find its way to Installation 05 in an attempt to flee the corrupt forces of President of the UEG Troy Marshall . The crew managed to hide on the ring, and used its Cartographer to locate the Library, where they later found, and interacted with the villagers of one of the settlements within the Library. Once ONI Hunter-Killer teams found their way into the Library, they were captured by a Spartan strike team led by John 117. Forerunner Constructs As it was a Forerunner installation, robotic constructs made by the race were still very much present and were still active in their duties as they were a hundred thousand years ago. Sentinels were the most common of the Forerunner robots These guards coasted through Forerunner buildings and ensured that there was no containment breach, even though the Flood have not been present in such a location for over 700 years. If Sentinels did think that there was a threat, they would attack those they labelled as a threat using their energy beams. Crafty users could pick up the beams once the Sentinels were destroyed and could use them as their own weapons. In addition to Sentinels, large robotic guards known as Enforcers were known to be present in Forerunner structures all around the ring. Like Sentinels, Enforcers would attack those they believed to be threats, but they were generally only used in situations when Sentinels alone could not tackle a problem. Constructors were armed with missiles, Needler-like projectiles, and claws that could pick up vehicles and crush them. They were rarely spotted, but when they were, it was usually in a combat situation. People who could destroy an Enforcer gained fame on Installation 05 quickly, as was similar on other Installations. On the other hand, minor drones known as Constructors were also present on Installation 05. These tiny, thin robots would fly through the air and repair anything they felt needed repair. Their beams would actually rebuild damaged material using stored information within their databases. This would allow a structure to appear as it was before it was damaged. Humans have not been able to discover how this works, but theories suggest that the Constructor 'summons' matter into the place where it needs to repair something. The beams are not fatal, but they are painful if one is struck by one, which causes light bleeding. The most important construct on the Installation was the Monitor, the Forerunner AI that was in charge of managing, upkeeping, upgrading, and in extreme circumstances, firing the Installation. The Monitor for Installation 05 was 2401 Penitent Tangent, who had quirky behavior for an AI. While he began his service quietly and obediently, he was known to have become negligent in his upkeep of the facility, gaining threats of investegation from the systems aboard Delta Halo, and even the Forerunner Ecumene, but following the firing of the Array, no resistance came. It was revealed that 2401 was under the influence of the Flood Hive Intelligence known as the Gravemind, a gestalt intelligence that arose from the collective number or corpses and memories of the dead which became intelligent through sheer numbers. 2401 was under the influence of the Gravemind until 2552 after its meeting with John 117 and the Arbiter of the time, Thel 'Vadum. After this, 2401 was able to free himself from the clutches of the Gravemind, but his mind has remained addled by the experience. He has been aloof for more than seven centuries - a minor stretch of time for a Forerunner AI. After meeting the crew of the Emerald Fox, 2401 was 'rebooted' when told to run a self-diagnostic, which cleared his memory and restored him to mental clarity. 2401 then scurried off to do repairs that he neglected to do for seven centuries. Trivia *The capital city of Delta Halo is named 'Niven' after the American Science-Fiction author Larry Niven, who wrote the Ringworld series of novels that centered around a ring-shaped construct that had a diameter of the orbit of Earth, which contrasts the 10,000 kilometer diameter of the Halo Array rings. Halos are technically known as 'Niven Rings' in honor of the author. Appearances *Journal of Sally Acorn (Mentioned Only) *Deception (First Appearance) Category:Locations Category:Technology